Business briefs: Vestas signs long-term pact

Vestas recently secured an order for 80 megawatts of wind turbines with a potential of up to 750 megawatts for multiple projects in the U.S. planned by EDF Renewable Energy, Vestas and EDF executives said. Vestas’ factories in Colorado will be involved in manufacturing blades, nacelles and towers for the projects, which will use V100-2.00 MW turbines.

“This agreement builds on the long-standing relationship between our two companies,” EDF Vice President Ryan Pfaff said. Earlier this year, Vestas secured a contract with EDF EN Canada, along with Enbridge, to deliver 166 V100-1.8 MW turbines for the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project in Alberta, Canada.

BOULDER

CU satellite set to launch

A small satellite that is the handiwork of more than 150 University of Colorado students — and has potential to help scientists better understand how atmospheric drag can affect satellite orbits — is set to launch Sunday.

The satellite will investigate how a layer of Earth’s atmosphere known as the thermosphere can vary in density at altitudes 200 to 300 miles above Earth.

It’s set to launch Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a commercial Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket.

“I think I’ll probably have a few tears when it finally gets up there,” said Miranda Link, a CU senior studying astronomy and a project manager co-leader.

COLO. SPRINGS

Auto body shop front for drugs

A Mexican drug cartel used an auto-body repair shop in Colorado Springs as a distribution point for a large-scale marijuana trafficking operation for nearly two years before it was moved out of state, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said this week.

The group allegedly moved the marijuana by putting it in the gas tanks of cars and then transporting it again inside large farm equipment.

One of the alleged drug traffickers, Abraham Friesen-Remple, who was arrested last month, appeared in federal court Tuesday in Denver and was ordered held without bond.

The other six people allegedly involved in the trafficking of thousands of kilograms of marijuana, including the man who ran the auto body shop, remain on the loose.

Most of them are members of the Mexican Mennonite community and are believed to be outside of the U.S., the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

SNAP STAT

8

The number of Front Range hotels that filed a lawsuit this week to block Aurora’s proposed Gaylord hotel and conference center near Denver International Airport, a recipient of a state tourism grant. The hotels filing suit include The Broadmoor and the Brown Palace.

Business Briefs are compiled from staff reports and Chieftain wire services.